Before water used by the Las Vegas valley gets to Lake Mead, it goes to Lake Powell on the Utah/Arizona border. However, federal officials are expected to announce next week that Lake Powell has much less water to give Nevada. That puts the lake levels dangerously close to where federal water restrictions kick in for southern Nevada.
Lake Mead's bathtub ring is about to turn into a drain, not only on Las Vegas' growth, but on people's wallets.
Right now, there are two giant intakes at Lake Mead, known as straws. The straws draw southern Nevada's drinking water.
New projections from the Southern Nevada Water Authority predict the water will drop too low for one of those straws by February 2016.
"At that point, you have 90 percent of the water supply for 2 million people coming out of a single source. No water manager wants to be in that position. Where you are one single catastrophic event from losing that water supply," deputy manager at the SNWA John Entsminger said.
If Lake Mead drops to 1,075 feet, Nevada will be forced to cut its water use by 4 percent. The lake is now at 1,106 and falling fast.
